Review: Power in Medieval Scotland

Abstract

The perception of diametrically opposed forces in Scotland, that of a traditional, conservative and unchanging native aristocracy and an innovative, Europeanised incoming one, has long been dismissed, but the characterisation of the Scottish crown and aristocracy as 'hybrid' in the late middle ages encourages the view of two societies, 'Gaelic* and 'Anglo-Norman' existing within Scotland, (p. 19) This has done little to offer a deeper understanding of how native and incomer interacted and co-operated during the later middle ages. As Richard Oram notes, aspects of 'continuity and change' have been standard in recent Scottish historiography of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries but, for the most part, 'change' has been more closely examined. (p.46) From the beginning, the aim of the editors of this collection of essays was to examine the extent of continuity of native aristocratic power in the face of an incoming foreign aristocracy, (p. 18) In arguing for such continuity it has been acknowledged that the changes resulting from the settlement of this small group of Frankish aristocrats were heightened by more widespread changes which accompanied them. The new arrivals appeared at the same time as the creation and spread of trading centres, religious reform and the introduction of monastic orders, and a new focus on monarchical government.